


Just an Earthbound Misfit

by sullymygoodname



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-02
Updated: 2012-08-02
Packaged: 2017-11-11 06:19:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,577
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/475445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sullymygoodname/pseuds/sullymygoodname
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>There's no sensation to compare with this; Suspended animation, a state of bliss; Can't keep my mind from the circling skies; Tongue-tied and twisted just an earth-bound misfit, I. </i> Or, the unconventional way in which Arthur finds out about Merlin's magic.</p><p>(Most likely takes place in the magical time of series one, before all the betrayal and sadness.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Just an Earthbound Misfit

**Author's Note:**

> As a child, I really loved the movie _The Sword in the Stone_ and I always wished I could fly… Oh who am I kidding? Those are both still true.
> 
> The story you are about to read is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either products of the creator's imagination or are used fictitiously. This story does not reflect the views or opinions of any actual person portrayed herein.  
> ...Anyway, IT'S JUST ~~CLAY~~ ...er, FICTION!

* * *

It happens quite suddenly, and unexpectedly, as these things tend to do. Camelot, though within sight, is still half a day's ride at most, and Arthur's already feeling the soreness in his legs and shoulders start to set in. He's tired, he hadn't caught _anything_ at all, and Merlin's persistent humming is getting on his last nerve. What was meant to be a relaxing hunting trip has failed on pretty much every level.

So, it's completely not his fault that he doesn't hear the bandits before they ambush him. They seem to almost seep right out of the trees (Except, not really, because he's sure there's nothing magical about them. Not everything bad that gets thrown in his path is _sorcery_ ; sometimes, it's just people.) and surround him in the blink of an eye. One moment he's plodding along, grinding his teeth to stop himself from telling Merlin to _shut up_ , and the next… bandits.

He's vaulted off his horse, sword drawn, in an instant, calling over his shoulder, "Merlin! Go!"

He can't look back to make sure the idiot has listened; men are closing in around him on all sides, sharp knives gleaming in the sunlight, mouths filled with brown rotting teeth smiling from beneath bearded faces. He fends off the first of the attackers easily, clang of steel resounding across the clearing.

And then, just as before, one moment he's moving to strike again, and the next his face is covered with cloth, like someone had thrown a sack over his head from behind. But Arthur's horse had been at his back, the bandits in front and to the sides. He _knows_ this, is trained to assess any situation, and Arthur, above all, trusts what he can see with his own eyes.

He struggles to free himself, surprised to find that no one seems to be holding him down, no arms pinning him, no grasping hands from which to break free. Just this heavy cloth, as though they'd thrown a huge rug over his whole body. Arthur claws at the cloth, kicking it to untangle his feet, until he sees light through a small opening and scrambles toward it. He emerges into open air and tall grass, greeted by the raucous chattering of dozens of birds. Just as he's looking around, readying himself for the next assault, the desperate flapping of wings rents the air and the sky is filled with crows lifting off the ground as one, flying high into the trees. Their loud calls back and forth grow more and more distant until they disappear from sight, and all is still once again.

Arthur stares up into the clear blue sky. "What just happened?"

He ponders on this, and considers that his initial assessment of 'non-magic' was, perhaps, a little premature. A shadow falls across the land; suddenly, Merlin is standing over him and Merlin is _enormous_!

"Arthur? Is that…" He peers down, lines creasing his face.

_Dear God, they've turned Merlin into a Giant!_

"We need to get back to Camelot," Merlin says and, before Arthur can say _well obviously_ , he's being scooped up in Merlin's gargantuan hands and placed gently into his satchel. "Sorry, but I can't risk losing you. Just try and stay quiet, will you?"

"I most certainly will not!" Arthur protests as the flap closes over his head and he's plunged into darkness. "Merlin! Merlin, you will let me out of here this instant!"

He spends the next couple of hours yelling his head off to no avail, being bounced around inside Merlin's bag as they ride… _Is giant Merlin riding a giant horse?_ No, that can't be. Perhaps Merlin hasn't been magicked then. Something… _else_ must've happened. Arthur doesn't like to think it. He does feel odd, though. Of course, it's black as pitch in here so he can't see anything. Something comes rolling toward him and he ducks out of the way just in time to dodge an apple.

 _Hah!_ He knew the little sneak was hoarding food.

Annoyed, Arthur settles himself into a relatively stable corner of Merlin's satchel, beside a thin book ( _What's Merlin reading?_ ) in a bunched up bit of fabric, to keep from getting jostled or squished. The horse must've slowed down, as the ride becomes less bumpy. The mild swaying back and forth is not unpleasant…

He jolts awake, what feels like just moments later, when the bag falls over and the apple rolls out onto a broad wooden floor before the flap drops closed again.

"—ad to sneak in so that none of the guards would see me alone and ask where Arthur was!" Merlin's words are whispered and shrill.

"Birds, did you say?" Gaius sounds normal… for Gaius, anyway, and Arthur realizes that they must be in the physician's chambers.

"I didn't know that would happen!" Merlin shrieks. 

Arthur wriggles his way out of the satchel; it's amazing how heavy just a bit of cloth can be!

"I was just trying to disarm them," Merlin is saying and Arthur stops struggling for a moment.

 _Merlin_ was trying to disarm them? Is that what Arthur just heard? What was _Merlin_ going to do? Throw stolen apples at them?

"It's a simple spell. I've never been able to try it before, but I memorized it."

Arthur finally finds his way free, stumbling out onto… Gaius's worktable apparently. Then he freezes as the words catch up to him. _Spell?_

"Oh, Merlin, haven't you lear—" Gaius stops short, and Arthur can see the old man's eyes narrowing in his direction. Gaius bends forward and peers at him. "Sire?" he asks slowly, carefully.

Up close, Arthur can see that Gaius's eyebrows are uneven, his features more severe, and the light coming through the window behind him illuminates his white hair into a soft glow framing his head. Clearing his throat, Arthur attempts to cross his arms over his chest, but his hands feel funny. He points agitatedly at Merlin and that's when he sees…

His arm is not covered in the black cloth of his second most comfortable tunic, but reddish-brown feathers that flex with each movement he makes. Arthur stares, dumbfounded, at his own… hand. "What?" he squawks.

"I'm so sorry, Arthur." Merlin's ridiculous face is just at the edge of the table, his eyes huge and liquid.

"I'm—" Arthur stutters. "What is—" He stretches his other arm out and… His mind fills with the vision of crows scattered across clear blue sky. "I'm a bird." He extends both arms— _wings_ fully, head tilting to take in their expanse. "I'm a _small_ bird." He snaps his head forward to glare at Merlin. " _You_ did this?" he asks, half incredulous.

"I can fix it! I just—I will, Arthur. I'll fix you, I promise."

"Fix? How did you even—"

"I just, um, I just need to figure out what I did in the first place, that's all."

"What? Are you saying that you did this to me _on accident_?!"

"Just—" Merlin raises his hands, palms to Arthur, pleading. "Just calm down, Arthur. I can't understand you! Are you even speaking words?" Merlin's hands slap up to the sides of his head, clutching his hair in fists. "Oh my god, are you even Arthur?"

"Of course I'm Arthur!"

"Just, please, stop fluttering about!"

"I do not flutter!" Arthur stills and his feet slam into the table, jarring and painful and… He stares down at his tiny little bird feet. His feet were off the table. In the air. Not touching anything.

"I'll make you right again, Arthur," Merlin is saying from somewhere far above him, but Arthur is lost in contemplation. "It shouldn't take long, I swear."

"Merlin, transmogrification is extremely difficult and complicated," Gaius's voice breaks through. "You'll have to show me exactly what spell you think you were performing. And _later_ we'll have another discussion about being so careless."

"Arthur…" Merlin's breath hitches, and Arthur looks up at him again. "Arthur, I'm really sorry. Please, when I fix you, please don't have me beheaded."

Rolling his eyes, Arthur strides forward… well, fine, he sort of hops — his feet are small! He comes to a stop in front of Merlin's stupid face and, and… and he could just peck Merlin's stupid blue eyes right out of his skull. He opens his mouth to start yelling, then takes note of the sound of his own voice.

Great. He's speaking _bird_. Of course Merlin doesn't understand him.

Merlin rises up, hands coming toward him, and Arthur begins backing away. "What are you doing?" he demands.

"Come on, Arthur," Merlin says, hands trying to close around Arthur's middle. "We have to figure this out. I said I was sorry! Stop—ow!"

He hadn't really meant to nip Merlin's finger, it was sort of reflexive, but Merlin pulls his hand back enough to let Arthur out of his grasp. Not for long, though, as Merlin looks more determined coming for him again. Arthur continues backward until there's nothing but air beneath his feet and he's falling off the damned table. He flails, flapping his wings and trying to grasp onto the table's edge.

Then Merlin is below him, and Gaius is as well, and Arthur's about to smack into a wooden beam. He veers inelegantly and ducks beneath it, but then there's a wall there. "Whoa—what!"

He drops suddenly and flies right through the open window. And it's _brilliant!_

"Arthur!" Merlin calls behind him. "Wait! Come back!"

* * *

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally meant to be longer, with something resembling a plot even, but it's been sitting in my WIP folder for well over a year now and I just had to shove it out of the nest. Perhaps I'll come back to it in the future.


End file.
